Dining review: Breakfast gets make-over at the longtime Shoreline

The eggs were obscenely fresh — this was my first clue that something had changed at Shoreline Coffee Shop. In late 2011, after nearly 50 years slinging "freezer to fryer" meals, owner Santiago Ojeda handed the keys to Ged Robertson of Mill Valley's Small Shed Flatbreads. Robertson, known for his commitment to the Marin holy trinity (sustainable-local-organic) brought in Luis Lagos as a chef and partner and set about the business of changing everything so that nothing is different.

Come again? First, it looks exactly as it did. Same narrow counter at the front, well-worn linoleum on the floor and colorful, wavy-backed booths. Thirty-two years in, Bonnie is still waiting tables on the weekends and her cohort, Alice — at 87, the "young one'" with a mere 15 years at Shoreline — works the weekday shifts. The ladies, the decor and the food keep the regulars coming so Lagos, formerly executive chef at the renowned Haramara Retreat in Sayulita, Mexico, and Robertson make small, steady changes to the tight Mexican-American menu. There's a list of daily specials on butcher paper taped to the side of a huge refrigerator.

It can sometimes mean a bit of juggling. Two eggs any style ($7) is still served with hash browns and toast, just as it was in 1962 when the doors first opened. Today, the eggs are from Woolly Egg Ranch, a hop and a skip down Tennessee Valley Road and the bread is from Green Gulch Farm, but the hash browns are pressed, spaghetti-swirly mid-20th century freezer-to-fryer hash browns. Regulars howled with protest when they were removed so they are back and not going anywhere.

The daily special soup ($4 cup), broccoli-leek that day, creamy and thick without added cream, was a deft balance of bitter and sweet with a punch of chili on the finish.

Fish tacos ($10.5) were less successful. Served open-faced, the zesty cabbage-cilantro-toasted pepita slaw and peppery Serrano chili sauce masked overcooked, chewy red snapper. Stick with the coffee shop burger ($5.50 single). Made with 100 percent Marin Sun Farms plate-pressed beef with just a bit of salt and pepper, it was cooked to an ideal, juicy, medium-rare. The 1962 set-up of raw white onion, tomato, iceberg lettuce and cornichons is so old it's new again.

From the granola and yogurt to the chorizo and guava syrup (for the French toast), Lagos makes just about everything on location and dots the menu with fresh Mexican flavors. The pickled cauliflower, brined with coriander, mustard and jalapeño and served alongside the cochinita pork, is not to be missed, nor is the tres leches cake ($6). Foraged mushroom tacos ($11) are served on toast (costra) in the style of Mexico City.

And the coffee? It's Four Barrel drip ($2.50); Robertson says he has a new set of regulars who stop in just for the premium brew.

Lagos and Robertson are making headway on some planned changes, too. A beer and wine menu, patio seating for about six tables and espresso drinks are on tap for late spring. Maybe by then, the workmen in coveralls, CHP officers, day hikers and bikers, and Marin families who fill the tables will ask for "hash browns à la Lagos." Then again, maybe not.

Christina Mueller writes about food — restaurants, chefs, products and trends — for local and national publications as well as other industry clients. Send her an email at ij@christinamueller.com.